I remember when I was in the staff loos
at a place I worked and I over heard two girls talking.

Girl1: I've got a credit card and the limit is £5,000
Girl2: £5,000? What have you spent it on?

Girl 1 then went on to list everything she had bought.

Girl1: And the best thing is that I only have to pay back £5 a month.
Girl2: Wow that's really affordable.

At that point I came out of the cubicle and tried to explain to the first girl that by paying it off at only £5 a month she would never pay it back.
I explained about interest and how the payments she was making would never clear her debt.

"But why would they only ask for £5 back a month if I couldn't pay that off. I think your making it up."

I guess she's still in debt now.
( Mrs Entity is in hiding., Wed 22 Jul 2009, 9:10, 11 replies)

And that
is why companies like Ocean Finance can exploit the thickheads of society.

Loan applicants should have to sit a test proving that they understand the logic behind debt before they are given any money.

"Oh yes, they consolidated our debts and we had enough left over for this new car." No you fucking well didn't - you're going to be paying that off for longer than your mortgage.

/rant
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Wed 22 Jul 2009, 9:27, closed)

And Don't get me on started on the National Lottery
It's basically a tax on people who didn't pay attention in maths class at primary school.
( buffet_the_appetite_slayer ٩(●̮̃•)۶ jacked in to the ICE on, Wed 22 Jul 2009, 9:30, closed)

Not again with the national lottery
Yes, winning is hideously unlikely but there's other possibilities

1) You like the chance of winning, even if it is rather unlikely.
2) Someone has to win. Probably won't be you, but if you buy a ticket a week, is there really something else particularly valuable you can spend 52 quid on, once a year? For some people, the chance is worth it.
(syllopsium, Wed 22 Jul 2009, 10:50, closed)

I've won about £100 on it
that keeps me in tickets for about two years at one a week. I still figure it's worth doing.

here's something about statistics that most people can't comprehend. Just because something is hideously unlikely to happen doesn't mean it won't, and doesn't mean it won't happen more than once.

I'm not under any illusion that I'm going to win the jackpot, but as I've found the lottery to be essentially self-funding I'm going to carry on doing it.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 22 Jul 2009, 10:56, closed)

The best I ever did was 80 quid one weekend
Paid for all of my shopping.

Overall, I'm down. I set a limit and stick to it - a couple of draw games and an instant win every couple of weeks. I like the chance of winning, even if mostly I lose.

It's not large sums of money, and I spend far more on beer.

Of course what is evil is their monitoring of your activity. If you decide to go a bit mad with draw games/instant wins using the online site, and then realise you're being daft and scale things back they write to your address and enquire why you're not using it as much. They've also changed the game playing limits, so that it's less useful for restricting your playing.

I'm sure there are worse sites, but if you think you could develop a gambling problem, the National Lottery online site is not a good place to be.
(syllopsium, Wed 22 Jul 2009, 12:37, closed)

hang on
"just because some thing is hideously...... doesn't mean it's not going to happen" ???

Yes it does.
( buffet_the_appetite_slayer ٩(●̮̃•)۶ jacked in to the ICE on, Wed 22 Jul 2009, 16:29, closed)

huh?
Ok, most weeks someone does win the lottery. Yeah, so for that particular player the unlikely event of winning actually happened, despite the long odds. When trying to think about things like this, real world examples can be enlightening.

Of course, that doesn't change the fact that most people who play the lottery will never win the major prize, and will be down on average (I think lottery pays out about 80% on average?).

I do agree that gambling is essential a tax on the week and stupid (just like speeding fines), or perhaps a voluntary tax on those who are brighter/stronger.
( Sextant goes to him is emotionally erect, on this day, Thu 23 Jul 2009, 3:53, closed)

i've won about £400 this year
on hotpicks alone.
i also found a quid in the street on saturday, bought a scratchcard with it and won £100.
i like the lottery.
( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Wed 22 Jul 2009, 13:27, closed)

lucky you
now then think about the millions who haven't. Hardly likely to post a follow up on a dead thread in B3TA to an audience of roughly seven to say they've never won anything are they?

Pay attention at the back.
( buffet_the_appetite_slayer ٩(●̮̃•)۶ jacked in to the ICE on, Wed 22 Jul 2009, 16:33, closed)

fuck 'em, i'm winning!
just won another tenner on 22, 31 and 40
( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Wed 22 Jul 2009, 23:46, closed)

it funds
a lot of stuff with your money, think of it like donating to the future sporting achievements of the uk (and imagine how ABSOLUTELY cack at everything we would be without it.

I can see nothing wrong with donating to charity in a gambling manner.
( bland is bland, Thu 23 Jul 2009, 4:42, closed)